Protective Carrier and Handle for Cans

ABSTRACT

Polymer-based circular carrier means ( 11 ) mounted on can bodies in the manner to cover their entire top surfaces. The circular carrier means ( 11 ) are generally planar, sheet-like structures having integral protruding members and recesses creating a corresponding surface for receiving opposite can surface. Each carrier means ( 11 ) is additionally provided with a handle means ( 12 ), normally encircling part of the periphery of said carrier means ( 11 ) and separated therefrom by perforations ( 14 ). Each element of a six-element can pack, provided in the form of two arrays of three cans in a typical manner, comprises a carrier means ( 11 ) provided with a handle means ( 12 ) for individual carriage as well as for carriage of the full can assembly by use of any of said handles ( 12 ). Said carrier means ( 11 ) are connected to neighboring carriers by perforations ( 15 ) along peripheral portions in the parts out of said handle perforations ( 14 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a carrier adapted to be used for allkinds of drinks and especially for carbonated drinks such as beer cansetc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION/PRIOR ART

There is significant amount of work on can/bottle carriers in the patentliterature; in a nutshell, all aiming at easing carriage of a pluralityof cans/bottles by one hand and eliminating hygiene concerns, which arecaused by storage environment dust that is accumulating on theperipheral portions of can top surfaces around the drinking mouth andthereby posing a serious risk.

Beside cardboard carriers to store and carry a plurality of cans atonce, polymer based carriers were also very much worked to besatisfactorily commercialized in the market. Among patents/patentapplications in the technical field, it is possible to cite numerousdocuments, for instance, to be of exemplary reasons, U.S. Pat. No.5,562,205, WO 02/064433, U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,106, WO 93/02942 and WO98/05570 may be cited here.

In the field, beside measures taken to eliminate hygiene concerns andproviding necessary carrier means, another prior issue is to provide acarrier with an optimum design so as to not occupy a volume much largerthan that of the original product and which is significantly in theshape of the top surface of a can, to be hence suitable for storing cansone above another in a conventional manner. On the other hand, needlessto say that mechanical stability is always of major importance,especially when a 3-liter, 6-piece beer pack is carried by a thinpolymer carrier, as is the situation for most of the cases.

There is one additional design aspect which should also be considered ofpriority in can carriers. According to the present invention andcontrary to the disclosure proposed by the patent documents cited above,the can carriers are designed to carry not only the full pack of can butalso every single can one by one. In other words, the carrier assemblyis designed in a detachable manner, as is the practice in the prior art,but also designed with means to carry single cans separately. This isespecially advantageous in that one single can may be carried afterdetaching the same from the rest of the can pack.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a can carriersuitable for carrying a plurality of cans by one hand in a comfortableand reliable manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a can carrier withcarrier means suitable for carrying full can pack or any number of cansdetached from the rest of the pack as well.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a can carrieroccupying a volume not much larger than that of the original productduring transport, storage and exhibition, can's bottom surface fittinginto the top surface of said can carrier, hence allowing storage of canpacks back to back and one above another in a conventional manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objects of the present invention are achieved through use ofpolymer-based circular carrier means mounted on can bodies in the mannerto cover their entire top surfaces. The circular carrier means aregenerally planar, sheet-like structures having integral protrudingmembers and recesses creating a corresponding surface for receivingopposite can surface. Each carrier means is additionally provided with ahandle means, normally encircling part of the periphery of said carriermeans and separated therefrom by perforations. Each element of asix-element can pack, provided in the form of two arrays of three cansin a typical manner, comprises a carrier means provided with a handlemeans for individual carriage as well as for carriage of the full canassembly by use of any of said handles. Said carrier means are connectedto neighboring carriers by perforations along peripheral portions in theparts out of said handle perforations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In the following, the invention is described in more detail withreference to the drawings, which are given solely for the purpose ofexemplifying the invention.

According to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective side view ofa can carrier comprising a pair of carrier cells with the handle meansbeing not detached from the carrier means.

FIG. 2 is a perspective side view of a single can carrier cell detachedfrom neighboring carrier cell with the handle means being not detachedfrom the carrier means.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a single can carrier cell detached fromneighboring carrier cell with the handle means being not detached fromthe carrier means.

FIG. 4 is a perspective side view of a can carrier comprising two pairsof carrier cells with the handle means being not detached from thecarrier means.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a can carrier comprising one pair of carriercells with the carrier means and the handle means being not detachedfrom the neighboring carrier cells and from the carrier meansrespectively.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a can carrier comprising three pairs of carriercells with the carrier means and the handle means being not detachedfrom the neighboring carrier cells and from the carrier meansrespectively.

FIG. 7 is a top view of a can carrier comprising three pairs of carriercells with only the carrier means located in the middle pair beingprovided with handle means.

FIG. 8 is a top view of a can carrier comprising two pairs of carriercells with the carrier means and the handle means being not detachedfrom the neighboring carrier cells and from the carrier meansrespectively.

FIG. 9 is a top view of a can carrier comprising one pair of carriercells with the handle means being detached from the carrier means.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a can carrier comprising one pair of carriercells with the handle means being detached from the carrier means.

FIG. 11 is a perspective side view of a can carrier comprising one pairof carrier cells with the handle means being detached from the carriermeans.

FIG. 12 is an another top side view of a can carrier comprising one pairof carrier cells with the handle means being detached from the carriermeans.

FIG. 13 is an another side view of a can carrier comprising one pair ofcarrier cells with the handle means being detached from the carriermeans.

FIG. 14 is an another perspective side view of a can carrier comprisingone pair of carrier cells with the handle means being detached from thecarrier means.

FIG. 15 is a perspective side view of a can carrier comprising o carriercell with the handle means being not detached from the carrier means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Now referring to the figures outlined above, the can carrier (16)according to the present invention employs polymer-based carrier cells(13) comprising carrier means (11) in the form of planar and circularsheet-like structures covering top surfaces of can bodies andincorporating circular handle means (12) surrounding said carrier means(11) along part of their peripheral portions. Said handle means (12) areconnected to said carrier means (11) by means of a circular perforatedline (14) provided in between said carrier means (11) and said handlemeans (12) along the periphery of said carrier means (11). Said handlemeans (12), normally lying adjacent to said carrier means (11) duringtransport, storage and exhibition may be easily separated therefrom bybuyers prior to carrying.

It is known that carbonated drink cans generally have a cylindricalbody. From a side view of a can body, however, it is seen that thelateral surface of the same is extending uprightly and then reaching thetop surface of the can with a slight inward slope. In other words,beverage can bodies' top surface areas are smaller than a givencross-sectional surface area that is located between the top and bottomsurfaces of the cylindrical body and that is parallel to those two.According to the present invention, a carrier cell (13), which ismounted on a single can and which comprises said carrier means (11)encircled by said handle means (12), has its outermost limits in thehorizontal axis, within an area defined by the vertical projection linesof the lateral surface of the can body. Considering the fact that canpacks are arranged in horizontal rows during transport, storage andexhibition, arranging those packs back to back would cause a space usageproblem in case said carrier cells' (13) outermost portions in thehorizontal axis extend beyond the area defined by the verticalprojection lines of the largest horizontal cross-sectional area of thecan body. Due to this design characteristic according to the presentinvention, a can pack with every can having a carrier cell on the topsurface, occupies the same volume compared to the volume occupied by acan pack without any carrier cell in a conventional manner and henceposes no problem with regard to space usage during transport, storageand exhibition.

The carrier cells (13) according to the present invention are alsoconvenient for arranging can packs one above another vertically duringtransport, storage and exhibition since upper surfaces of said carriercells (13) have suitable recesses for receiving bottom surfaces of thecans above.

Said carrier means (11) according to the present invention, tightlygrips the upper surface of a can, through suitable recesses andprotruding members provided in the form to engage in the oppositesurface on to which said carrier means is mounted. Said carrier means(11), normally in a fixedly attached position to the can top surface,may be removed therefrom by the consumer, through exertion of a limitedhand force by the edge portions of said carrier cells (13) prior tousage.

According to the present invention, every can in a can pack is providedwith a handle means (12) attached to said carrier means (11) by means ofa circular perforated line (14) provided along part of the periphery ofsaid carrier means (11) and may easily be detached therefrom by way ofpulling that out as those handle means are designed in the form of atear-off ring. On the other hand, a carrier means (11) with its handlemeans (12) being detached, will still be fixedly attached to neighboringcarrier means (12) by means of a second linear perforated line (15) inthe remaining peripheral portion of said carrier means (11) and carryinga can pack by means of any of detached handle means (12) will hence bepossible. Perforations are provided at least at one point (18) thoroughsaid circular and linear perforated lines (14 and 15 respectively).

According to this configuration, a user may either choose to carry aplurality of cans by an individual handle (12) provided on any of thecans in the pack or detach a number of desired cans by tearing off saidperforated lines (15) in between cells (13) and carry the same bydetaching any of the remaining handle means (12). A carrier cell (13)detached from a can's top surface may still be reclosed and thehalf-full can may be safely closed and protected until the next time theuser drinks it.

The present invention thus enables both individual carriage of a singlecan and plural carriage of the full pack or any number of cans detachedfrom the pack, by means of any of the available handle means (12).

According to FIG. 7, which demonstrates another embodiment of thepresent invention, it is seen that only a pair of carrier cells (13) isprovided with the handle means (12) instead of every single cell (13).However, it is of primary object of this invention to provide a separatehandle means (12) to every carrier cell (13). Additionally, as is seenin FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, a can pack may also be carried in a conventionalmanner by two apertures (17) provided in the center of each cell (13)group in the form of a square consisting of 4 cells (13).

According to the present invention, the cans provided with said handlemeans (12) may be hanged on a rack or on a wall for exhibition throughsaid handle means (12) as well as on a rucksack as an accessory item.

1. A carrier (16) suitable for carrying a can, comprising one circular,sheet-like carrier cell (13) structure attached to the top surface of acan, said carrier cell (13) characterized in that it comprises; acarrier means (11) covering and tightly gripping the top surface of acan by means of suitable integral protruding members and recessescreating a corresponding surface for receiving gripping can surface, ahandle means (12) surrounding said carrier means (11) along part of theperiphery of said carrier means (11) and which is attached thereto bymeans of a detachable circular perforated line (14).
 2. A can carrier asproposed by claim 1 wherein said carrier cell's (13) outermost limits inthe horizontal axis fall within an area defined by the verticalprojection lines of the lateral surface of a can body.
 3. A carrier (16)suitable for carrying a plurality of cans, comprising at least onecircular, sheet-like carrier cell (13) structure attached to the topsurface of a can and means to be connected to neighboring cells (13)characterized in that said carrier cell (13) comprises; a carrier means(11) covering and tightly gripping the top surface of a can by means ofsuitable integral protruding members and recesses creating acorresponding surface for receiving gripping can surface, a handle means(12) surrounding said carrier means (11) along part of the periphery ofsaid carrier means (11) and which is attached thereto by means of adetachable circular perforated line (14). at least a second detachablelinear perforated line (15) attached to a neighboring carrier cell (13)along peripheral portions of said carrier means (11) in the parts out ofsaid circular perforated line (14), whereby a plurality of cans may becarried together, one by one or in any desired number by detaching saidcarrier cells (13), by way of detaching any of said handle means (12) inthe carriage.
 4. A can carrier as proposed by claim 3 wherein saidcarrier cells' (13) outermost limits in the horizontal axis fall withinan area defined by the vertical projection lines of the lateral surfaceof a can body whereby storage of can packs back to back is possiblesignificantly without requiring further space compared to space usage byconventional can packs without carriers.
 5. A can carrier as proposed byclaim 3 or 4 wherein upper surfaces of said carrier cells (13) havesuitable recesses for receiving the bottom surfaces of the cans abovewhereby arranging can packs one above another vertically duringtransport, storage and exhibition is possible significantly withoutrequiring further space compared to space usage by conventional canpacks without carriers.
 6. A can carrier as proposed by claim 3 or 4wherein at least one carrying aperture (17) is provided in the center ofeach cell (13) group in the form of a square comprising 4 cells (13). 7.A can carrier as proposed by claim 3 or 4 wherein said circular andlinear perforated lines (14 and 15 respectively) are provided withperforations at least at one point (18) through said lines (14 and 15).